As we are programmed to die after a certain period. I believe species are also programmed to die after a certain period.

I believe every species has a definite life span on our planet earth and we may call it " species span", after that it becomes extinct whatever you may do. Ever entertained such idea ? Ever analysed what happened to neanderthal man, homo erectus etc why they became extinct or Why growth rate of caucassian is nearing zero or in the negative? Is the life span of species is also programmed? Even our earth also has a limited life span, its not going to be there for ever.

Mar 15 2013:
The meteor hypothesis is not the only theory, although it is one that I believe played a part in the dinosaur extinctions. For some reason people look at the meteor strike as a singular event. My theory is that the strike also instigated world-wide volcanic activity.

Your first sentence ("There was no competition...") fails to acknowledge that I used the phrase "external forces", which are not restricted to competition and/or fitness issues. A massive meteor strike (and any associated volcanic activity) would certainly qualify as habitat destruction.

But that's completely beside the point. If you are suggesting that the dinosaurs all perished because it was their time to expire as a result of some unknown genetic mechanism (an off switch?), that just happened to coincide with a planet-wide catastrophe, then my suggestion to you is the same as yours was to me: "Try thinking differently."

Mar 14 2013:
The basic sad fact is that we interfered in their existence - we made them all die out permanently. Whether they were destined to or not is not the question - The issue on the table is that we stuffed up greatly. No excuse.

Mar 15 2013:
In Universe stars, galaxies are created and destroyed. There is no competition , there is no survival of the fittest. Every star has a limited life span.They are born and they die. These universal laws may be applicable to every thing that exits in this universe. Ted lover try thinking differently.

Mar 14 2013:
Can you name a single species that is now extinct simply because "their time was up"? Extinction is usually the result of external forces acting on a species, whether it is being hunted out of existence, habitat destruction, drastic climate change, etc.

The fact that Earth, and the entire solar system, for that matter, will end at some point has no relevance to the topic of species extinction.

Human growth rate cannot be analyzed on a global level. It is greater where food supplies are plentiful.

Mar 15 2013:
There was no competition and there was no fitness problem for Dinosuars to become extinct. The only possible hypothesis is that, that a giant meteor struck earth and all died as a consequence. but its only a hypothesis. Try thinking differently, no harm is done.

Mar 15 2013:
In Universe stars, galaxies are created and destroyed. There is no competition , there is no survival of the fittest. Every star has a limited life span.They are born and they die. These universal laws may be applicable to every thing that exits in this universe. Ted lover try thinking differently.

Mar 14 2013:
Neanderthal? Feel the back of your head just above your neck. Do you feel a bump or ridge? No - check with some of your friends. Neanderthal really gone - That structure was unique to Neanderthal. Remember the fantasy cave man - did they mention that his brain was 100 cc's bigger than modern man. Maybe we should always be skeptical of certain kinds of expertise.

Mar 14 2013:
But such a discussion would be a matter for Faith, Religion even, it's existential.
My reply in this case would have to be...
Yes, it's completely possible, but so is about anything else you can imagine, maybe the world will end tomorrow for no apparent reason, maybe tomorrow, scientists will be baffled when President Obama turns into some kind of humanoid tree being.
The existential is great to think about, but you will never have an answer to a question like that, only a discussion.

Mar 14 2013:
I think you're way out, it's simply the laws of evolution and competition.
For example, there is a species of bird, some of its members evolved and out competed the original, the original becomes extinct or is folded into the new species through interbreeding.

Mar 14 2013:
Sometimes facts are there in front of eveybody to observe and there are established ideas to explain their occurrence. You are right I am challenging those established ideas with no evidence. Also we donot have conclusive evidence to prove why humans or for that matter any animal has a limited life span , are we programed to die after some time ? If we are than why not our species? I believe even Sun is programmed to die after some billion years later, it also has limits to its life span.

Mar 14 2013:
In this case, we are looking at life spans of animals and birds that have been very actively interfered with - and so, in a developing world, I doubt if anything just plays itself out naturally.

So the notion you point out can be true in principle, but we will never be able to prove it

Mar 13 2013:
I just don't see any evidence for that, man. I think you're right in the sense that most species eventually die out--that is, eventually conditions change and the animal either evolves or goes extinct. But nobody's ever seen a species just "die out" for no reason...the species that do go extinct always go extinct because they're just not competing effectively anymore--and there's not many other species that can compete with homo sapiens. But how and why would the lifespan of a species be programmed? Evolution is what creates living things, and there's just no reason evolution would program a species to die out.

Mar 14 2013:
Sometimes facts are there in front of eveybody to observe and there are established ideas to explain their occurrence. You are right I am challenging those established ideas with no evidence. Also we donot have conclusive evidence to prove why humans or for that matter any animal has a limited life span , are we programed to die after some time ? If we are than why not our species? I believe even Sun is programmed to die after some billion years later, it also has limits to its life span.

Mar 14 2013:
I remember reading somewhere (sorry for no source) that on average, animals who live a normal life-span have a life span that averages 1 billion heart beats. So the tiny hummiingbird or mosquito doesn't live very long because those tiny hearts are beating very quickly, but the elephant, with its larger and more slowly beating heart, lives longer. I have never looked up the heart beat of a cockatoo or a sea turtle. Furthermore, trees and flowers don't have hearts as we traditionally think of them, so they would be immune from the 1 billion heartbeat rule of thumb.

I personally believe that all species have their own collective consciousness (that is a part of greater consciousness collectives), and that no species becomes extinct without its collective consent.

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